Chalkboard Basket Labels

Here is  a very simple DIY project I did for the Laundry room -  chalkboard labels.

Materials:

Wood signs ($1.45 for 4 from Hobby Lobby)

Raffia

Chalkboard Spray paint

Decorative basket ( mines from Target)

1) First I spray painted the wooden labels. So easy to do, and since its chalkboard paint, they dry up really fast (about 2 hours) and then I do the other side

2) I then asked my hubby to drill 2 holes on both sides of the wooden label so I can insert my raffia ties.

And then tie them up to your basket and then label!

Super easy and cute, I think! ;-)

Have a wonderful Week!

Linking back to...

The Hankful house

Laundry Update

I know, I know, Laundry room again?! I guess I am a bit fixated on getting at least one room in the house DONE and OVER WITH! ;-)

Like most of you, I spend a lot of time here - hence, I have a speaker and Ipad stand to watch my movies and shows while I'm doing this humdrum chore.

So, last weekend, I did some sprucing up again in this space (No, I am not done, almost there, but not yet). Here is what I did - first, I added more art....



Framed Vintage Adds for less $1 each!

Isn't this what you would like to feel when doing your laundry?! Happy, carefree like
Maria in "Sound of Music"! ;-)

We also got a plumber to add us a utility sink. And to make the sink "more pleasing to the eye" I decorated it a bit...

Added a towel bar/drying rack atop from Walmart - $15
Laundry Canvas Art on clearance from Kohls at $8

Also coordinated these these using Chalkboard spray paint!

Over on the other side, we added a spot for our beloved "Inday" - our MINT! You know how much I love (and need) this gadget, so I had hubby help build a shelf for her and all her stuff!

No more looking for stuff all over the house - i hope!

I also update my storage organization... The labels for the basket is a D-I-Y project which I'll share with you guys later on

All nice and neatly organized stuff

Trying to switch to earth-friendly cleaners and laundry stuff with Mrs. Meyers
The cute vintage ruler crate is from the the local "Walker's Bluff General Store"

Baskets are from Target - on sale for $6.99
Challkboard labels were made by yours truly

Fishies stuff on the left and other non-categorizable stuff on the right

I do want to get rid of  some of these bottles and cleaners someday

 The 2 decorative cans were Iced tea containers and I modge-podged them using old gift wrap - been with me for 4 years now!

Rusty Iron got a doorstop from antique store - $5

I still have to paint the cabinets here as well as the ironing board cover, add a decorative valence on the window, and I think, after that, I would consider this room DONE!

Have a Great day!

Linking back to My Uncommon Slice of Subrubia

Fab Friday Finds!!!!

TGIF!!!!!

As you may know, I am an online shopaholic/bargain hunter, and a lot of times I do find some nice deals that I share especially at one of my favorite blogs Copycatchic.com.  Thank you Reichel for sharing some of my finds with your readers!!!!

Here are 2 fab finds I found recently while lurking thru the net...


First these Bentwood chairs ...

Constance Chairs from Ballard Designs $299 for 2 + shipping

OR



Hamilton Bentwood chairs from homedecorators.com $103 (on sale) + $45 for shipping

OR



Mahogany Bentwood chairs from Kirklands.com $69

The last one, I actually saw at the store in a light oak color, with an extra 25% coupon they routinely hand out, this one's a really good deal.  Here are some ideas on how to incorporate these into your home...



Here they are, nice and grey in the dining room



From Houzz.com

I love the second look best - kinda brings a cottage-y feel to this otherwise grand home right?


My second find is this cute look-a-like of the famous Jonathan Adler Nelson lamp

Beautiful $395 ++ lamp

OR THIS

Cute version from PB Teen for $79 + shade



Hey, with it's timeless shape and neutral color, you can put this baby ANYWHERE! One of my most favorite example is this...



Gorgeous Entry by Julie Halloway & Anisa Darnell from Milk and Honey Home

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Books, books everywhere

I am a book lover by nature.

I mean, I love books literally but also figuratively.

I use them a lot in decorating our home.

See...

Aside from my book collections on display in our living room. We stil have a lot more in our office, our bedroom and even in the kids rooms. We are lucky that our kids have started their love of books early. We give books to them as gifts more than toys and they love it! Books takes you to place beyond your wildest imagination, and makes you think about anything and everything around you.

In design though, to quote NATE BERKUS, " Books are one of the best accessories for your home". Take a look at these clever uses of books in these homes...

As an actual side table...

As a decorative object...

Something to put IN your fireplace... just don't light 'em up :-)

All covered and nice as part of a big shelf vignette...

Displaying it IN your china cabinet in the Dining/reading room....

A lot of people have also used books or rather, it's parts, in some other clever ways...

The pages as wallpaper! Brilliant!

Or books as an inspiration for a wallpaper!

Using old covers as a headboard!

If you are a collector, there are so many ways of displaying them as well. Here are two of my faves....

Stacking 'em up high like big gian totem poles! Just watch out, make sure they don't topple on your noggin'!

Displaying them like works of art - very good for those awesome Designer coffeetable books

I started collecting what I call "Beauty Books" since last year. I call them such because I bought them mainly for what they look like - they are just Beatuiful books, I'm sure you agree with these PENGUIN CLASSICS...

Love those binding!

I have read some of them but not yet all of them, I feel like they'll be easier to read because they are aesthetically pleasing to look at too (crazy?! Yeah, I agree)!

I also collect Fashion Designer books - aside from the fact that they look good, they are also grogeous inside. Here are some of the titles I currently have...

Fashion Book Collection

I still have a long way to go as far as completing my collections, but in the meantime, they are put to good use around my home as decorative objects.

Isn't Elly cute standing atop Dior?! :-)

Part of our Media Center

Gotta love Hermes! And the pictures of the scarves inside are good enough to frame too!

 Hope this gives you some idea how to incorporate books into your own decor!!!!  So bring those books out of the shelf and start displaying  and using them all around the house. :-)

Have a great Week!!!!

Shower Curtains to throw Pillow covers

Let me get one thing straignt. As much as I love DIY projects and crafting and decorating, there is one thing I don't do or may never be able to do - I don't SEW.

The sight of a sewing machine boggles me and I am fortunate to have had my mother-in-law visiting us,  who DOES sew.

So last month, I bought these....

Love, love a god bargain but I love more if it's something truly beautiful too

They were on clearance at KIRKLAND's and I had a coupon, so I paid like $6 for 1 shower curtain. I got total of 4 and used 2, with a lot of extras for this project.

So with my pleading and prompting, she made these...

Isn't it pretty?

Comfier Theater seats

More pillows for our basement yehey! Total of 4 extra pillow covers on top of the 4 above!

I love IKAT, you know that, I love them on pillows so much that I wrote a whole post about them before! I still have 2 extra shower curtains left, I'm still thinking of what to do with them? A headboard? curtains? What do you think? Any suggestions?

Oh well, that's a project for another day, but I hope, though it entails using fabric, I don't have to use the sewing machine for it since my mother-in-law left already! :-)

Have a great weekend!!!!

Linking up to Serenity Now Blog, and Carolyns Homework

China Cabinet

Last month, after much contemplating (and saving), we finally got our Dining room a very worthy China cabinet.

It was no easy task choosing and finding the right one. After all, we wanted a piece that would suit our tastes (which usually changes every so often...) and would be versatile enough for any decor and last us for years to come.

In choosing a China Cabinet there were a couple of inspirational cabinets I saw on Pinterest

There are the classics...

Classic with a zing

Traditional

 The Cabinets for the modernists...

Sparsely beautiful

For the Mid-Century lover...

Timeless simplicity

And for the decor fashionista...

Makes me think this is owned by Kate Spade - just gorgeous

And finally, our personal choice, here she is...

Isn't she a beaut?

We got it from Restoration Hardware. And knowing that store, the price was steep, BUT, thinking about this as long-term furniture, an investment really and a future heirloom perhaps, I think it's worth every penny. :-)

It's 91 inches tall - massively heavy because its made of solid oak with a weathered oak drifted finish. It's a cabinet that could go with any decor and style because it is both "substantially classic organic" (Hmm, a new term I think, I just made up).

Inside it houses all my knick knacks collected thru the years from different sales - and knowing me, most of them are from flea, thrift or yard!

Some of my Milk Glass collection

Sparkling Adlers with some of my milk glasses and capiz collection

Remember how I told you how obsessed I am with Jonathan Adler- partial proof here

Alders with a lot of TJ Maxx plates. Dessert plates from Crate and Barrel

Extra stuff - sorry, not yet that organized

Here she is again in all her "nakedness"

I am obsessed with these handles
They are full-length cremone casement locks in blackened brass!

She still needs one more upgrade - lighting. But that will be for another time, another post. For now, we are happy the way she is. 

Happy Decorating!